Nanny for the Neighbors: Chapter 23

The door flies open, and I jerk backwards from Jack, almost head-butting Cyrus in the chin.

Seb practically falls into the room. He’s a mess; his hair is sticking up, and his collar is undone. He looks like he ran the whole way home.

“I take it you called him,” Cyrus mutters to Jack.

“She’s his kid,” Jack points out. “He should know this stuff.” He takes a bite of my cannoli, closing his eyes. “Christ, this is good.”

“Seb?” I sit up, frantically licking cream off my lips. “Are you okay?”

He ignores me, tossing his keys onto the counter and storming across to Cami’s crib. He reaches out like he’s going to pick her up, then pulls back his hands. “Jack says she has a fever.” He says ‘fever’ like most people would say ‘malignant tumour’. “Why haven’t you called a doctor?”

“Just a little one,” I soothe. “She’ll be okay. Calm down, you’ll wake her—”

“Calm down?” He says incredulously, spinning on me. “My daughter is in pain.”

“Your daughter has a cold,” I correct. Jesus, when I signed up for this job, I didn’t take into account that I’d have to deal with three times as many new-parent freakouts. At this rate, I’ll be looking after the guys more than Cami. “Getting sick is how she’ll develop her immune system. You can’t protect her from it.”

Seb’s face is pained. He glances across at us, his eyes finally focussing on our set-up. “What’s all this?”

“We’re wining and dining your nanny,” Cyrus says, reaching over to wipe a smudge of chocolate off my bottom lip. “Feel free to join us.” He licks the chocolate off his thumb.

I stare at him, wide-eyed. What the Hell does he think he’s doing?

Sebastian studies us for a few moments, his jaw working, then turns back to the cot. “I’m taking her into my room,” he says stiffly. “Can someone help me move her?”

Jack jumps up and carries Cami into Seb’s bedroom as Seb pushes the cot behind him. I wait for them to get out of sight, then glare at Cy. “Why would you tell him that?” I hiss.

“Relax. We’re just eating dinner.”

“On a pile of pillows, with bottles of wine and candles everywhere?”

He waves me off. “I’m known for being extra. He won’t think anything of it.”

Jack reappears, pulling Seb’s door softly shut. I hear low murmuring on the other side. “He’s reading her a story,” he says, looking amused.

“Seriously?”

“Well. It’s a chapter from a textbook about international copyright law. I’ve told him he has to at least do funny voices to keep her interested, but he refuses.” He sits back down on my other side, even closer than before, and sets a hand on my thigh. “Now,” he smiles. “Where were we?”

“Beth was confused about threesomes,” Cyrus supplies, sliding his fingers down my spine.

“I’m not confused,” I argue. “I’m just—” I turn to Jack. “Like, if I kissed Cyrus—you wouldn’t care? At all?”

“He’d probably be watching,” Cyrus drawls, “taking notes about my kissing technique.”

“I’d definitely be watching,” Jack murmurs, sliding his hand up my knee. “Wouldn’t be focussing on Cy, though.” I stare at him stupidly, and he smiles. “You’re really struggling to get your head around this, aren’t you?”

“I’m not judging, or anything!” I say quickly. “It’s just… weird to think of, I guess. I don’t think I’d like someone I was dating to get with other women.”

Mostly because I’d definitely just get dropped immediately. I have a great track record for rejection. If I agreed to share a guy with multiple women, I’m sure I’d be out on the pavement so fast I’d find asphalt up my ass-crack.

“I’d never ask you to share us, sugar,” Cyrus purrs, picking up his glass. I swallow, my heart pounding faster in my chest.

“How about we make it easy?” Jack asks, leaning back. “It’s your turn, I think. Truth or dare?”

I think of Cami’s formula. “Truth,” I say quickly.

“You’re really gonna wanna pick dare on this one, babe,” Cyrus says lazily, swilling his wine in his glass.

“Uh. Okay. Dare?”

Jack nods at his friend. “Kiss him.”